News

WILLMAR—When Dr. Thomas Lange removes a patient’s gall bladder or Dr. Jennifer Lee-Pentz performs a simple hysterectomy, their snips and sutures are careful, dexterous and precise.
Except they’re not standing directly over the patient. They’re a few feet away, using robotic technology to perform the surgery.
Rice Memorial Hospital introduced robotic-assisted surgery last summer for a handful of selected procedures. As local use of the technology slowly grows, hospital officials hope it will

WILLMAR, MN—In an era when unmanned aerial systems seem to be the inevitable future for agricultural data collection, one implement dealer has started offering a service of collecting data for customers with a Cessna airplane, flown by an actual pilot.
Haug Implement of Willmar, Minn., offers data gathering and processing service in central Minnesota, and is expanding.
The company captures images at a 2- to 10-inch resolution.
They are Minnesota’s dealer for AgPixel Agricultural Service,

WILLMAR—A $25,000 grant from the Blandin Foundation has been awarded to study the lack of broadband Internet service in Kandiyohi County.
Word that the grant had been approved came Wednesday, said Connie Schmoll, business development specialist with the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission.
Schmoll told the EDC operations board Thursday that the Blandin grant will be matched with $25,000 from Kandiyohi County and $12,500 from Federated Telephone Cooperative based

WILLMAR—There’s no sign on Kandiyohi County Road 7 as the road enters the south end of town. And after a storm last summer destroyed the remaining “Welcome to Sunburg” sign at Highway 7 and Minnesota Highway 9, there’s been no sign on the north end of town either.Sunburg sign
But this is about to change. Brand-new signs are being installed at both locations this spring, thanks to the efforts of city officials and many volunteers.
In this town of 100, which treasures its strong Norwegian

NEW LONDON—White paint on the south wall of Mord’s Hardware Hank, downtown New London, marks the start of the first public art project to develop from a 30-month, $262,500 grant awarded by ArtPlace America to the city of New London.
Jeff Vetsch, project coordinator, announced New London received the grant during last Wednesday’s city council meeting. Vetsch, Kristin Allen, project artistic director, and City Administrator Trudie Guptill were informed June 6 the city had received the grant.

WILLMAR—Ground will be officially broken Thursday for a $21 million project to expand the Bethesda Health and Housing campus. Beds at the aging Bethesda Heritage facility are being replaced with new construction on the same site as Bethesda Pleasant View and the Bethesda Wellness Center. The project, which is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2015, will unify the entire continuum of Bethesda services on one campus, said Michelle Haefner, CEO and president of Bethesda Health and Housing. But

WILLMAR—John TerWisscha began his construction career in the summer of 1954 digging footings with a shovel for Mel Werder. Werder was building a hog barn 4 miles south of Willmar. “I asked if Mel had any work for a dude like me,’’ recalls TerWisscha who had returned in late February from military service in Korea. “He said, ‘There is the shovel.’ I picked up the shovel and I started digging. And that is how I started in construction.’’ TerWisscha was remembering his early days as

WILLMAR—The Kandiyohi County Commissioners have thrown their financial support behind two major economic development projects in Willmar, including one that could end up pulling money away from planned county road projects.Willmar Wye illustration At their meeting Tuesday, the Commissioners unanimously agreed to make a financial commitment of $459,279 that would go towards a project to reroute 45th Street north and south of U.S. Highway 12 as part of a proposal to create a railroad bypass and spur

WILLMAR—The Willmar Community-Owned Grocery announced its choice Tuesday of 1600 East Highway 12 as the future home of the locally owned food cooperative. Close to 50 people were on hand for the official announcement and signing of the lease, which was greeted with a round of applause. “It’s a really important day,” said COG board member Mary Catherwood. “We know where we’re going to be. We know where our home is.” The location, at the corner of Highway 12 and Lakeland Drive, is owned

NEW LONDON — What may be the best classroom ever built comes with a floor of stones, NLS greenhousewelded furniture and plenty of dirt. What the students of the New London-Spicer High School learn in their new, passive solar greenhouse could matter to all of Kandiyohi County. Arvind Auluck-Wilson’s motivation in helping design the greenhouse is to jump-start a new industry in the county. The owner of Energy Technology Innovations in Milan believes that entrepreneurs in the county could build